Big Drop Brewing Co

Big Drop was launched in 2016 by Rob Fink, a former City lawyer who went looking for a decent alcohol-free beer to replace his usual craft pints and found nothing worth drinking. He teamed up with school friend James Kindred, and with experimental brewer Johnny Clayton (previously of Wild Beer Co, now Big Drop's Head of Production), to build what the company bills as the world's first brewery dedicated solely to alcohol-free beer.

Instead of brewing a normal-strength beer and stripping the alcohol out afterwards, Big Drop brews to a capped 0.5% ABV from the start, using over 20 specialty grains including barley, rye, wheat and oats to build body and flavour without relying on alcohol to carry it. Worth noting on the labelling side: UK government guidance (voluntary, not law) reserves the 'alcohol-free' descriptor for drinks at or below 0.05% ABV, so 0.5% beers like Big Drop's are marketed and shelved as alcohol-free without meeting that guidance figure - though a government consultation has proposed raising the threshold to 0.5%.

Since 2016 Big Drop has become one of the most decorated brewers in the no/low category, taking World's Best in the Flavoured Low Alcohol category at the World Beer Awards 2020 for Galactic Milk Stout, alongside medals at the International Beer Challenge, International Brewing Awards, US Open Beer Championship and European Beer Challenge. The company does not own a brewery - founder Rob Fink has said he never intended to build one - and the beers are contract-brewed under licence at partner breweries in the UK and overseas, including production sites in Chicago, Toronto and Melbourne. They are stocked in major UK supermarkets and sold internationally, including in the US and Australia.